US20100234995A1 - System and method for securely transporting an item - Google Patents

Abstract

A system. The system includes an apparatus and a server. The apparatus is configured for securely transporting an item from a first location to a second location, and includes a mobile robot and a cart. The cart is coupled to the mobile robot and includes at least one secure storage area. The server is communicably connected to the apparatus and includes a module. The module is configured to maintain a chain of custody record for the item.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
• This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of the earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/120,290 filed on Dec. 5, 2008.
BACKGROUND
• This application discloses an invention which is related, generally and in various embodiments, to a system and method for securely transporting an item from a first location to a second location. The item may be transported within a variety of different environments. For purposes of simplicity, the invention will be described in the context of transporting items in a hospital facility.
• Hospitals are required and or desire to track various items that are delivered internally from their internal service departments to various areas of the hospital, including but not limited to, nursing units, patients, ancillary and support areas, surgical and emergency areas, outpatient areas and clinics. Typical examples of this would be the delivery of medication to nursing units, the picking up of lab specimens from nursing areas, the delivery or pick up of blood products from the blood bank, food deliveries, supply deliveries and mail deliveries. Many of the deliveries may require tracking and security for regulatory purposes, such as the delivery and storage of controlled substances by the pharmacy or the delivery and storage of blood products from the blood bank. In other instances the tracking and security are highly desirable, such as the delivery of high cost or high alert (e.g., dangerous) medications.
• Other than having a person deliver the item from a first location in the hospital to a second location in the hospital, hospitals currently do not have a reliable method for insuring a secure and traceable delivery of the item. For human delivery, a person from the delivering department must physically receive the item from a secure storage area within the department and complete the internal security compliance steps or receive the item from an outside entity, such as the US mail. The delivery person must then go to the area where the item has been requested and have the recipient acknowledge the delivery, almost always in writing.
• The current human delivery or manual system is human resource intense, untimely, lacks security and where it is not required by law, is most often not employed. Instead, hospitals generally choose to use their human resources for pressing concerns.
• Once an item has been delivered, it is either used or applied for patient care without delay or stored in a designated area for later use. The item may be stored in Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADCs), refrigerators, locked or unlocked cabinets, open shelving or in designated rooms. In many instances, the current human delivery method has no system of feedback to be sure that once the item is received by an individual the item makes it to its proper destination for storage. Having the item reach the proper destination can be critical from a safety perspective as well as for product stability. For instance, an intravenous medication that has been prepared by the pharmacy may require refrigeration and is given an expiration date based on that storage condition. If the item is not stored properly the stability and potency of the medication is compromised and may render it ineffective or at least less effective than normal.
• Some hospitals employ the use of pneumatic tube systems for the delivery of some items. In such instances, the item requiring delivery is placed in a plastic tube and sent through the system to the final destination. The final destination is generally known as a tube station, and the tube station typically includes an open bay to permit tubes to arrive. These open bays are unsecured and any person with access to the area may remove tubes or items without accountability. In most hospitals, pneumatic tube systems are not used for items requiring tracking and accountability, but that is not always the case.
• In some hospital departments that frequently send items where security, tracking and accountability are required, there may exist an automated secure cabinet system. For example, such systems are sometimes employed by a pharmacy for the internal storage, dispensing and tracking of controlled substances. These systems may be electronically linked to ADCs located in areas external to the pharmacy area. However, these systems do not address delivery and therefore are employed in conjunction with the previous mentioned human delivery model.
• For hospitals that utilize ADCs, the ADCs need to be routinely replenished. This replenishment is generally performed by human delivery, and although a centralized database may record the item's final disposition, the security, tracking and accountability of the delivery itself is not assured.
• ADCs, also known as unit based cabinets, have become a standard part of the medication distribution system of many modern hospitals. The ADCs are stocked with various medications, and operate to dispense such medications to authorized personnel. In general, an individual ADC includes a computing device, an input device such as a keypad, a display device, and a plurality of normally locked drawers, where each drawer holds one or more types of medications. The computing device is in communication with the hospital network, and maintains a list of patients associated with the ADC.
• In operation, the input device allows a person to enter information such as a user name and password. Once the user name and password are authenticated, a list of patients associated with the ADC may be displayed on the display device. The authorized person may then gain access to the medications needed for any of the patients on the list. For example, the authorized person may utilize the input device to select an individual patient from the displayed list of patients. Upon the selection of the individual patient, a list of medications and dosages for the selected patient may be displayed on the display device. The authorized person may then utilize the input device to select a particular medication of the selected patient. Upon the selection of the medication, the computing device may operate to initiate the unlocking and opening of the drawer which holds the selected medication. The authorized person may then remove the medication from the drawer for use with the selected patient. Upon the completion of this process, the drawer is closed and automatically locked. A similar sequence may then be utilized any number of times to gain access to additional medications for the selected patient or medications for other selected patients.
• The ADCs are typically spread throughout the patient care areas in order to have the medication inventory closer to the actual point of use. Although the positioning of ADCs throughout the patient areas provides localized access to an inventory of medications, there are certain inefficiencies which result from the utilization of ADCs, particularly in the area of inventory maintenance. As various medications are dispensed from each of the ADCs, the ADCs communicate the reduction of the respective medication inventories to the hospital network so that the hospital pharmacy knows the medications and dosages which need to be replenished at each of the ADCs. On a periodic basis, the medication inventories held by the respective ADCs are replenished. The replenishment process typically involves having one or more persons manually transport medications from the hospital pharmacy to the individual ADCs. Such a process is labor intensive, prone to inaccuracies, and difficult to effectively manage.
SUMMARY
• In one general respect, this application discloses a system. According to various embodiments, the system includes an apparatus and a server. The apparatus is configured for securely transporting an item from a first location to a second location, and includes a mobile robot and a cart. The cart is coupled to the mobile robot and includes at least one secure storage area. The server is communicably connected to the apparatus and includes a module. The module is configured to maintain a chain of custody record for the item.
• In another general respect, this application discloses a method for securely transporting an item. According to various embodiments, the method includes identifying an item placed into a secured storage area of a cart, transmitting placement information regarding the identified item to a server, identifying when the item is removed from the secured storage area of the cart, and transmitting removal information regarding the identified item to the server.
• Aspects of the invention may be implemented by a computing device and/or a computer program stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may comprise a disk, a device, and/or a propagated signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• Various embodiments of the invention are described herein in by way of example in conjunction with the following figures, wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar elements.
• FIG. 1 illustrates various embodiments of an apparatus;
• FIG. 2 illustrates various embodiment of a mobile robot of the apparatus ofFIG. 1;
• FIG. 3 illustrates various embodiments of a cart of the apparatus ofFIG. 1;
• FIG. 4 illustrates various embodiments of a system which includes the apparatus ofFIG. 1; and
• FIG. 5 illustrates various embodiments of a method for transporting an item.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• It is to be understood that at least some of the figures and descriptions of the invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the invention, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements that those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate may also comprise a portion of the invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the invention, a description of such elements is not provided herein.
• FIG. 1 illustrates various embodiments of anapparatus10. Theapparatus10 may be utilized to securely transport items throughout an environment. For example, theapparatus10 may be utilized to securely transport medicines, lab specimens, blood products, food, general supplies, mail, etc. throughout a hospital. Although theapparatus10 may be utilized to transport a variety of different items throughout a variety of different types of facilities, for purposes of simplicity, theapparatus10 will be described in the context of transporting medicines throughout a hospital facility. According to various embodiments, theapparatus10 includes amobile robot12, and acart14 coupled to themobile robot12. Theapparatus10 may also include aninterface16 connected to thecart12.
• Therobot12 may be any suitable type of mobile robot. For example, according to various embodiments, therobot12 may be configured similar to the robot described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,046,565 and 7,100,725, the contents of which are hereby incorporated. As shown inFIG. 2, according to various embodiments, themobile robot12 includes first andsecond wheels18, first andsecond motors20 mechanically coupled to the respective first andsecond wheels18, abattery22 electrically connected to the first andsecond motors20, acomputing device24 connected to thebattery22, and a plurality ofsensors26 coupled to thecomputing device24. For purposes of clarity, the electrical connections between therespective sensors26 and thecomputing device24 are not shown inFIG. 2. According to various embodiments, themobile robot12 also includes areceptacle28 configured for receiving a post30 (seeFIG. 1) which couples themobile robot12 and thecart14 to one another. Thereceptacle28 may be configured to mechanically and electrically couple themobile robot12 and thecart14 to one another when thepost30 is received by thereceptacle28. Aspects of themobile robot12 may be implemented by thecomputing device24 and/or a computer program stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may comprise a disk, a device, and/or a propagated signal.
• Thecart14 may be any suitable type of cart utilized to securely transport items such as medicines, lab specimens, blood products, food, general supplies, mail, etc. throughout an environment.FIG. 3 illustrates various embodiments of thecart14. Thecart14 includes first andsecond wheels32, a plurality ofstorage areas34, aninput device36 such as, for example, a keypad, a biometric reader, etc. and a passive radio frequency identification (RFID)tag reader38. Although not shown inFIG. 3, thecart14 may also include a battery and a computing device, or may utilize thebattery22 and thecomputing device24 of themobile robot12. In general, one or more of thestorage areas34 are normally secured (e.g., closed and locked), and suchsecure storage areas34 may hold one or more items to be delivered to throughout the facility. For example, thesecure storage areas34 may hold one or more medicines to be delivered to ADCs positioned throughout a hospital. At least some of the items may be packaged (e.g., medicines packaged in individual unit dose packages), and such packages may have RFID tags embedded therein. Alternatively, such packages may have one or more bar codes printed thereon. An authorized person may position a hospital issued passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag proximate thepassive tag reader38 and/or use theinput device36 to enter a specific code, enter a biometric identification, etc. to cause one or more of thesecure storage areas34 to open, thereby gaining access to the items held by thesecure storage areas34. Theapparatus10 may transmit information regarding the position of theapparatus10 within the facility, the person who gained access to the items, the time the person gained access to the items, etc.
• According to various embodiments, thecart14 also includes a second passiveRFID tag reader40. The second passiveRFID tag reader40 may be positioned at any number of suitable locations on or in thecart14. When an item (e.g., a medication package) embedded with an RFID tag is removed from one of thesecure storage areas34 of thecart14, the second passiveRFID tag reader40 is operative to identify the item as it is removed. Theapparatus10 may also transmit information regarding the removal of the item from thecart14 such as, for example, the type of medication package removed, the time the medication package was removed, etc.
• According to other embodiments, thecart14 also includes abar code reader42. Thebar code reader42 may be positioned at any number of suitable locations on thecart14. When an item (e.g., a medication package) having a bar code printed thereon is removed from one of thesecure storage areas34 of thecart14, the person who removed the item may utilize the bar code reader to read the bar code on the removed item. The reading of the bar code is operative to identify the removed item. Theapparatus10 may also transmit information regarding the removal of the item from thecart14 such as, for example, the type of medication package removed, the time the medication package was removed, etc.
• As described in more detail hereinafter, the information transmitted from theapparatus10, including the position of theapparatus10 within the facility, the person who gained access to the secured items, the time the person gained access to the secured items, the type of item removed, the time item was removed, etc. may be utilized to establish a chain of custody record for the item.
• Theinterface16 is in communication with thecomputing device24, and may be positioned at any number of locations in or on thecart14. Theinterface16 is configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other automated device, and may be utilized to operate at least some of the functionality of the at least one other automated device. The other automated device may be embodied as, for example, an automated secure cabinet such as an ADC, an automated refrigeration unit, an automated bay of a tube station, etc. For some embodiments, when theapparatus10 is proximate an ADC, theinterface16 may transmit an instruction to the ADC to display a list of medication packages which need to be replenished at the ADC. This automatic process eliminates the need for a hospital employee to advance through the user screens of the ADC to display the list. In addition, theinterface16 may receive the list from the ADC, and operate to unlock thesecure storage area34 which holds the first medication package on the list, thereby providing an authorized hospital employee access to the needed medication package. Furthermore, theinterface16 may transmit an instruction to unlock a drawer of the ADC based on the medication package which is removed from thecart14.
• According to other embodiments, theapparatus10 includes thecart14 and theinterface16, but not themobile robot12. In such embodiments, thecart14 may be manually pushed or pulled from one location within the facility to another location within the facility, and theapparatus10 retains all of the other functionalities described above. Therefore, the chain of custody record may also be established by this embodiment of theapparatus10.
• According to yet other embodiments, theapparatus10 may include thecart14, but not themobile robot12 or theinterface16. For such embodiments, theapparatus10 may be utilized to deliver items (e.g., medications) to specific locations or to devices other than an ADC. In such embodiments, thecart14 may be manually pushed or pulled from one location to another within the facility, and theapparatus10 retains functionality for establishing a chain of custody for medications loaded onto or off of thecart14.
• FIG. 4 illustrates various embodiments of asystem50 which includes theapparatus10 ofFIG. 1. Thesystem50 includes aserver52 is in wireless communication with theapparatus10. Theserver52 may receive data transmitted from theapparatus10, and such data may indicate the position of theapparatus10 within the facility, a log of who gained access to the items in thesecure storage areas34 of thecart14, a log of the items removed from thesecure storage areas34 of thecart14, a log of the access and removal times, etc. Theserver52 includes amodule53 configured to maintain a chain of custody record for each item securely transported by theapparatus10. Themodule53 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software and combinations thereof. For embodiments utilizing software, the software may utilize any suitable computer language (e.g., C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, VB Script, Delphi) and may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any type of machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, storage medium, or propagated signal capable of delivering instructions to a device. The module53 (e.g., software application, computer program) may be stored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., disk, device, and/or propagated signal) such that when a computer reads the medium, the functions described herein are performed.
• Theserver52 may also be in communication with ahospital computing system54 which is in communication with one or more automated devices (e.g., ADCs)56 positioned throughout the facility. For purposes of simplicity, theautomated devices56 will be described in the context of ADCs. TheADCs56 may be similar to those described hereinabove, and may also include areceiver58 for receiving the instructions communicated from theapparatus10. Thereceiver58 is in communication with a computing device of the ADC, and the computing device is operative to unlock one or more of the drawers of the ADC based on the instructions transmitted by theapparatus10 and/or inputs entered by a hospital employee.
• FIG. 5 illustrates various embodiments of amethod60 for securely transporting items within an environment. The items may include for example, medicines, lab specimens, blood products, food, general supplies, mail, etc. For purposes of simplicity, themethod60 will be described in the context of delivering medications from a hospital pharmacy to one or more automated dispensing cabinets positioned throughout a hospital facility. Themethod60 may be implemented by theapparatus10 ofFIG. 1. When utilized with thesystem50 ofFIG. 4, themethod60 provides positive identification and automatic chain of custody records regarding the transfer of items from one location to another location (e.g., from the hospital pharmacy to various ADCs positioned throughout the hospital facility).
• Prior to the start of theprocess60, therespective ADCs56 communicate information back to thehospital computing system54 regarding which medication packages have been removed from theADCs56. Therefore, at any given point in time, thehospital computing system54 knows the type and amount of medication packages which need to be replenished at therespective ADCs56.
• The process starts atblock62, where medication packages needed to replenish theADCs56 are loaded into thecart14 at the hospital pharmacy. The RFID tag of the person loading thecart14 is read by the first passiveRFID tag reader38, and the second passiveRFID tag reader40 and/or thebar code reader42 are utilized to read each medication package as the packages are loaded into thecart14, thereby capturing the beginning information for the chain of custody record. Alternatively, the person may subject a part of their body (e.g., a thumb) to a biometric reader to allow for identification of the person who loads the medication packages into thecart14.
• Once thecart14 is loaded and locked, the process advances fromblock62 to block64, where theapparatus10, including the loadedcart14, advances toward a first one of theADCs56 positioned throughout the patient areas of the hospital facility. For embodiments where theapparatus10 includes themobile robot12, the apparatus advances autonomously toward the first one of theADCs56. Otherwise, thecart14 is manually pushed or pulled toward the first one of theADCs56. While theapparatus10 is traveling to thefirst ADC56, theapparatus10 may communicate continually or intermittently with theserver52.
• Upon its arrival at thefirst ADC56, the process advances fromblock64 to block66, where a hospital employee approaches theapparatus10 so that the hospital issued passive RFID tag of that employee is read by the firstpassive RFID reader38 of thecart14. If the employee is authorized to access thecart14 and theADC56, theinterface16 transmits an instruction to theADC56 to display a list of medication packages which need to be replenished at theADC56. Alternatively, the authorization process may require the hospital employee to subject a body part (e.g., a thumb) to a biometric reader in lieu of or in addition to the reading of the hospital issued passive RFID tag of the employee.
• Fromblock66, the process advances to block68, where theinterface16 receives the list from theADC56, and operates to unlock thesecure storage area34 which holds the first medication package on the list, thereby providing the authorized hospital employee access to the needed medication package. At this point, theapparatus10 may transmit information to theserver54 regarding the identity of the employee, the time the employee was authenticated, etc.
• Fromblock68, the process advances to block70, where the authorized hospital employee removes one or more of the first medication packages from the list from thecart14. Upon removal of the one or more first medication packages from thecart14, the second passiveRFID tag reader40 identifies each removed medication package. If thecart14 is equipped with thebar code reader42 in lieu of the secondpassive RFID reader40, the employee may utilize thebar code reader42 to read the bar code on each of the removed medication packages. Theapparatus10 may transmit the removal information to theserver54.
• Fromblock70, the process advances to block72, where theinterface16 transmits an instruction to theADC56 to unlock a drawer of theADC56 associated with the one or more of the first medication packages which were removed from thecart14. By unlocking the correct drawer of theADC56 based on the identification of the one or more of the first medication packages removed from thecart14, the need for the authorized hospital employee to enter the drawer code is eliminated, thereby saving time and increasing the accuracy of the restocking process.
• After the one or more of the first medication packages are placed into the drawer of theADC56, the process advances to block74, where the authorized employee confirms the quantity of the medication packages added to theADC56, and the drawer is closed and locked. TheADC56 communicates the quantity information to theinterface16, thereby adding to the chain of custody information for that particular medication package. TheADC56 may also transmit the quantity information to thehospital computing system54.
• Afterblock74, theapparatus10 advances toward a second one of theADCs56 positioned throughout the patient areas of the hospital facility. Upon arrival at thesecond ADC56, the process may advance in a manner similar to that described hereinabove with respect to blocks66-74. The process may be repeated any number of times for any number of ADCs.
• Nothing in the above description is meant to limit the invention to any specific materials, geometry, or orientation of elements. Many part/orientation substitutions are contemplated within the scope of the invention and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments described herein were presented by way of example only and should not be used to limit the scope of the invention.
• Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments in this application, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the teachings herein, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of, or exceeding the scope of, the described invention. For example, in lieu of securely transporting a medicine within a hospital, the invention may be utilized to securely transport some other item in some other environment. Accordingly, it is understood that the drawings and the descriptions herein are proffered only to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.

Claims (20)

1. A system, comprising:

an apparatus configured for securely transporting an item from a first location to a second location, the apparatus comprising:

a mobile robot; and

a cart coupled to the mobile robot, wherein the cart comprises at least one secure storage area; and

a server communicably connected to the apparatus, wherein the server comprises a module configured for maintaining a chain of custody record for the item.

2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the mobile robot comprises a computing device.

3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the mobile robot further comprises a plurality of sensors connected to the computing device.

4. The mobile robot ofclaim 2, wherein the mobile robot further comprises a power source connected to the computing device.

5. The mobile robot ofclaim 4, wherein the computing device further comprises a motor connected to the battery.

6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cart further comprises an input device.

7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cart further comprises a biometric reader.

8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cart further comprises a radio-frequency identification tag reader.

9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cart further comprises a bar code reader.

10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cart is electrically and mechanically coupled to the mobile robot.

12. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising a post configured to couple the mobile robot with the cart.

13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the mobile robot defines a receptacle configured for receiving the post.

14. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising an interface connected to the cart, wherein the interface is configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other automated device.

15. A method for securely transporting an item, the method comprising:

identifying an item placed into a secured storage area of a cart;

transmitting placement information regarding the identified item to a server;

identifying the item when it is removed from the secured storage area of the cart; and

transmitting removal information regarding the identified item to the server.

16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein identifying the item comprises identifying the item with a radio-frequency identification tag reader.

17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein identifying the item comprises identifying the item with a bar code reader.

18. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising identifying a person who placed the item into the secured storage area of the cart.

19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein identifying the person comprises identifying the person with a radio-frequency identification tag reader.

20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein identifying the person comprises identifying the person with a biometric reader.

21. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising maintaining a chain of custody record associated with the item.

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